Foraging for Morels

Thorns are everywhere: clutching at our clothes, piercing our skin. Emma cries out as she slips,and we hurry to guide her to a safer patch. High in the Midwestern forest, echoing spring birdsong sounds almost like a tropical rainforest. The air is rain-fresh, pungent with last year’s decay.

“Step slowly,” I instruct my Kenny. “You don’t want to crush any.”

“Where are they?” he asks impatiently, greedily searching the ground.

Silently and rather boastfully, I point directly in front of him to where he had been staring. “Damn, those really are hard to see!” he exclaims.

We are searching for morels, the elusive little delicacies that locals talk about every year. I’ve read about them, lusted after them, but never had enough confidence to suppose that I could be lucky enough to find them . . . until today. Watching my Emma and Chloe play, I casually glanced at the ground and froze. Although I had never even seen a picture of a true morel, I knew that was it. I grabbed a few to reference check at home.

Is there a native instinct at play here? Perhaps we are not so far removed from our survival skills as we thought, because a knowledge that I never learned pointed to the mysterious mushroom in the woods and said that it was ok. Perhaps all we are missing is that intimate connection with the land, that relationship that lets us know how she is breathing, living, and growing.

We spent the evening gathering a basket of wild mushrooms, highlighted by my accidental discovery of a patch of asparagus. The thrill of finding foodmade us childishly giddy, the accomplishment heightened by the realization of our growing awareness of the world around us.

Foraging for the first time showed me a joyous side to the life I’d started to doubt. Working from home, raising food, and learning the land are all lonely jobs and had combined to make me second-guess what life is. Is it staying busy all the time, accomplishing something every hour, money money money . . . or is it learning to live, in every sense of the word? Learning how to live without a paycheck to buy every need or want, how to eat without a grocery store or magazine or expensive diet directing each choice, how to know the earth intimately -- how she breathes, grows, and dies? Are these not skills that are sadly undervalued today?

One night of foraging opened my eyes to the possibilities hidden in the underbrush. Now, I look for treasures: wild ramp, onions, asparagus, greens, mushrooms, and of course ginseng. My prior lack of observance has been replaced by the knowledge of a food world I have never even come close to entering . . . the most natural food world there is.

And what great memories: Emma's excited "Mommy, look!" when she finds a whole patch by herself.

Learning how to forage probably won’t change my life, but maybe it will. One thing I learned is that despite our modern wide-reaching capabilities, the world can still surprise us at times.

Through the Window

Excuse the messy porch . . . long winter without a garage.

Goats are looking in my window. Where are you, Mom? is obviously what they're wondering. y poor little Nigerians have attached to me as their herd leader and follow every step I make throughout the day; oddly, though, they haven't warmed up to me very much yet. They let me pet them for a few seconds before moving away. I think they're still nervous from their move, especially because our property is much more open than their previous home which I'm sure is intimidating for them.

My twice-daily milking routine is really bringing home the extent that most Americans (myself included) take food for granted. As I asked Kenny last night, "Is that right?" As an eater, shouldn't every single person take some measure of responsibility in bringing food to the table? What right have we to burden a few of our citizens with the monumental daily enormity of raising animals and producing safe food while we complain about costs? I'm sorry, but YOU get up before dawn every day of the year, work past sunset, feel the emotional drain of the connection to these animals that might one day be food, nurse them when they are ill, and miss days time with the family. There is no day off. Even for me, there is the slight feeling that I don't have to do this. I can just go back to buying milk like most people . . . but, I know this is right. We choose to do it, yes, but we do it not only for us but also for you, for the shaky future of the food supply.

So tonight I'll put the goats to bed with some hay and fresh water. I'll count all the chickens before locking them safely in their coop. And I'll sleep well because I'll know I'm trying to make the world a better place by changing where my food comes from.

Finding the Food System Again

We took another step in what is becoming an increasing passion of mine: stepping out of the industrial food chain. Yesterday we checked out Thurn's Specialty Meats in Columbus. I'd heard a lot about them, from Edible Columbus to Facebook, but since they're only open three days a week (the rest of the time they are doing their own smoking and prep work) we hadn't been able to get there until yesterday.

We weren't disappointed. Their business of smoking and curing meats and cheese has been in the family for well over a hundred years, and perhaps their customer service has something to do with it (although we haven't tried the bacon yet -- heard it's fantastic. Waiting for Sunday morning breakfast!). We were greeted with a welcoming smile as soon as we walked into the smoky sweet semi-darkness and surveyed the counter full of more different kinds of pork than you'll ever see in a chain grocery store . . . I had no idea there are so many varieties of sausage but I can't wait to try them all! Mr. Thurn fed us samples while cutting our order and talking about our recent move to the Columbus area. In what I consider a charming disconnect from modernity, our meats and cheeses are packaged in white paper with one of him being a tally of our order since they don't have a cash register. He even slipped the newest copy of Edible into the bag for me as we were leaving.

Last weekend we went to historic North Market in Columbus and got food for the most delicious

dinner we'd had in months, also from local businesses.

I am fascinated by the sadness of how a neighborhood shop can seem old-fashioned in our big-store shopping mentality, but I'm also very very glad to know that there are still century old businesses serving the same communities, and knowing their customers by name.

There is hope for us. :)

Indoor Garden Expanding!

We're ready for warmer temps so we can get some of these plants outside! We had to expand to a full sheet of plywood just to keep all the seedlings in front of the window. So far, we have 6 different varieties of hot peppers, 3 varieties of bell peppers, cherry tomatoes, roma tomatoes, lettuce, spinach, carrots, herbs, strawberries, cucumbers, summer squash, and sunflowers.

We're concentraning on doing a salsa garden for our market efforts and are trying to come up with a good name for our beginning farm. So far all we have is Wrench's Salsa and Sunflowers, lol.

Some updated pics:

Pre-planting Pics

We're going to go all out with our garden this year; extras will be taken to the market in hopes of making a profit. After all, Salatin said you should be able to make money off whatever land you have before trying to start a farm . . . so here we go. Our first attempt at urban farming!

9 Reasons to Eat Local

If I were to ask you how eco-friendly the food you buy at the grocery store is, you would probably dutifully point out the "organic" label on the fruits and vegetables and perhaps even some cereals and crackers. For argument's sake though, let's examine the reality of how green and even (gasp!) nutritious these foods really are.

Is it environmentally friendly to buy organic oranges from Florida in the middle of a Minnesota winter? What about the shipping costs (and fuel expended) and the extra shelf time? By the time it reaches you, it's passed through the many stages of handling that has decreased its nutrient value greatly.

What if we embraced a different way of eating -- one closer to our ancestors and certainly much better for us. What if we ate local, and in season?

I see your wheels turning. You're thinking, what if I need apples in February? Or a salad for Christmas? Heaven knows I don't have time to can food for the winter . . . what on earth will we eat?I know, it's a big change and for you it might not be feasible to eat locally all year long; however, if you make it a habit to buy food from your area farmers during the growing season, I guarantee that the health of you and your family will be dramatically impacted for good. And just for an idea, why not try a small indoor container garden for the winter? You can grow salad greens and herbs in any sunny window and it would be fun for the kids.

Here are some real reasons to patronize your local farmers:

1. Builds a sense of community. Remember the days of the milkman, butcher shop, and bakery? Probably not, because they're long gone. The beauty of getting your food in your own area is that you can once again have a relationship with the people that bring you your life-food. You can shake hands with the man or woman that grew it.

2. You know where your food is coming from and how it's grown -- the ultimate quality check. Don't want hormones or antibiotics in your chicken and beef? Fine, visit the farm to see what they're eating, talk to other customers, get to know the farmer. It's an awesome synergistic relationship; the farmer can't survive without you (the customer) so he'll want to be honest and trustworthy.

3. Freshest you can get -- often within hours. Whether you buy at the farmers market or drive to the farm, chances are that the produce was picked within the past 24 hours. Sure beats traveling thousands of miles for weeks at a time, doesn't it?

4. Preserves rural land and a way of life that are important to our culture and our environment. If we're not careful, we'll lose much of our beautiful countryside to developmet. Supporting family farms helps to save that land for future generations.

5. Shows the government that we do care about our food supply. Unfortunately the government doesn't always make the best decisions for our food. If you care about avoiding antibiotics, hormones, and genetically modified food, then you can "cast your food vote" by buying from local people that practice natural methods of raising food.

6. Provides meaningful local employment. Farming is an honorable profession. A community that works with their farmers is a rich one indeed.

7. Your dollar goes farther because it lasts longer. Have you ever brought a bag of grapes home from the grocery store only to discover a day or two later that they've developed mold already? Gross. Because local food is so fresh, it'll keep in the fridge longer than grocery store stuff.

8. It tastes better! Seriously.

9. It feels good. Make a difference in your family, community, and farmer's family.
Local Harvest has a search feature that will allow you to look up farmers in your area that grow the food you're interested in.

Good ahead -- try it. It's the natural way, after all.

Photo: NatalieMaynor

Farm Beginnings

Yep, it's been a while since I've really posted. What can I say, having a baby definitely takes a lot of time! She's worth every minute though, and Kenny and I are so happy.

Anyway, here's a bit of an update on our goal for sustainability and local eating this year. We've started lots of plants for our container garden: two different kinds of lettuce, container-size cherry tomatoes, bell peppers, habeneros (Kenny's, haha), carrots, and strawberries. I also have the vendor application for a new farmer's market in town -- and it's only $15 a week! We're pretty excited about that.

Yes, that's a roasting pan. Just shows how meager our beginning!

Here's a flat of strawberries, lettuce, peppers, and carrots. The lettuce is more than ready to be transplanted but we haven't had time this past week. Hopefully over the weekend we'll get it done.

Lettuce that has nothing left to do but finish growing and be eaten! It's doing much better in the big container than the other ones in the flat.

Urban Farming Grows Up

My Great Local Experiment

There are many reasons that I'm passionate about getting (preferably organic) fresh food from local farms. Not only does it have waaayyyyy more nutrients, but it supports local agriculture in a way that I think is vital to our country. Not depending on huge farms trying to feed the world puts us in a stronger position to be self-sufficient both on an individual and national level.


Plus, I am sentimental and believe that the decline of family farms is a cultural misfortune. Who wants to go for a "country" drive in the suburbs? But that's what is happening, because too many farmers can't afford to keep farming unless we support them.


I truly believe that changing the way we eat (ie, less grocery store junk) would drastically impact our overall health and well-being.


However, to my chagrin I stopped trying to eat local when the farmer's market shut down for the year. I mean, it's hard, and it takes planning, and I thought I didn't have enough money for it. It's all true, and for a lot of people. That's why I've decided to use 2009 as a "trial" year, in which I explore ways and options to eat healthful local food even on a budget. My first step? Planting our container garden and possibly even marketing some of that in the small town where we live. I intend to see just how far I can take this.


As a heads up, while I plan on going all the way . . . milk, meat, fruit/veggies, honey, flour, etc, I don't think I'm able to give up chocolate. Rather than allowing my local eating beliefs become something akin to a radical religious lifestyle, I choose to look at it as a series of better choices--not an all or nothing stance.


It will be baby steps for a while, but major changes usually are. I think it will be interesting to see how it turns out though. :)



Photo: Nicholas_T